HGTV junkie?

I'm one of those that need background noise to keep me going, so I usually have the TV on to handle this. Lately I've been leaving it on HGTV and I think I now know all the Property Brothers episodes. May I say- HOTT! Ok, so in reality I wish someone could come help me fix up my old century home though there are never any of those shows filmed here in Ohio and they certainly won't come to help me. I don't have some bleeding heart story of tragedy or triumph. I'm just a stay at home mom trying to survive and make the best for my family that I love.

The problem with watching all this HGTV is it gets you motivated to "fix up" your home and such, which would be fantastic and I have some great ideas thanks to these shows. What I don't have is money or help to do any of these. Right now with it being September I'm in Holiday mode, saving form my budgeted Christmas spending. I know this might seem so far off but I have to do this as we don't usually have extra money for much of anything. When we do is when something bad happens that we have no choice but to shell out a ton of money that takes away from feeding my family. Forget any other needs. This is why we have not been able to fix the mold and damage from the roof leak we had about 2 years ago. We had to replace the whole roof costing us substantial amount of money and the husband had to forfeit his 2 weeks of vacation to get the advance pay to get the work done. Mind you, this was on a low pay budget as a friend did the work (he has his own roofing company). The insurance company demanded it done immediately as we had to claim it on the insurance. At this time, our house payment was so behind we were in danger of loosing the home as well, so some of that money had to be used to pay the mortgage AND put a temporary fix inside. My ceiling is still damaged in my kitchen, above this on the second floor the ceiling still has black mold showing through the textured ceiling paint; but now we have a new roof and vapor barrier around this area. This is only one problem of a list that keeps growing every year! We have a constant stomping of mice in the ceiling and they like to pop into my attic- damaging things stored there. We have Wolf Spiders, house spiders, cellar spiders, earwigs, silverfish, lady bugs, ants, possibly carpenter ants, beetles and who knows what else. I read these so called solution sites and of course the state to seal up the foundation but in all reality my home was built on a foundation of stone. Even a failed attempt of sealing the stone and brick down there is futile as it was done before and still leaks. There is an old coal shoot that has been locked up and "sealed" and more. It's an old farm house.... Come'on!

I also say I need help as my husband not only works so dang much but he has no interest in working on the home; Only a place to lay his head I think and his garages- which he keeps in fair condition (can't store anything in the pole barn any longer as the mice have destroyed a lot in there as well).

I find myself frustrated now because nothing is getting fixed, repaired or just done around the house that I can not do myself.

Damn you HGTV! Grrrr.......

Homesteading to the 9th has kept me busy

Well I've been really busy lately; but many will define busy in different ways. Other than the normal house work and the joy of chasing after a 2 year old little girl (we started in Story Time at our local Library).

I have been working in the garden, canning, cooking, mixing and dehydrating!

 

One example of the mixes I am making ahead is Rotisserie chicken seasoning. Great to have on hand and fantastic to mix on bone-in chicken and toss into the oven to bake. So yummy!

4 tsp salt

2 tsp paprika

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp dried thyme

1 1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp garlic powder

 

*This was adapted from the original recipe submitted to Allrecipes.com by Sue Rogers

 

I've made others I found via Pintrest and so far I'm in love with the idea of making my own mixes ahead of time! This is where the dehydrating is coming from. Other than the idea that I will not waste the wants my family has at any given time- than never eats, allowing things to be thrown out (taboo), I can pre-mix things like vegetable rice using the dehydrated peas, carrots, onions, celery and more. LOVE IT! Not only have I made vegetable rice, I made Onion rice mix, Spanish rice mix (via:http://rainydayfoodstorage.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/rice-mixes.html ) I also adapted a broccoli cheese rice mix using up a packet of cheese from a macaroni and cheese box that I had to steal the pasta from when I ran short once. I also found seasoning mixes that I can't wait to try like Dry Stir-Fry seasoning http://www.food.com/recipe/dry-stir-fry-seasoning-mix-433849 which is similar to a stir fry seasoning mix I use in another recipe. I made Ranch dressing mix and Dry onion soup mix from http://selfreliancebyjamie.blogspot.com/2011/08/tis-seasonings.html and Italian dressing dry mix from http://www.food.com/recipe/italian-dressing-seasoning-dry-mix-63812.

 

  I found some great info out there on dehydrating that I am putting to GREAT use now and here is what I recommend: http://momwithaprep.com/2013/06/21/101-dehydrating-recipes/ and https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:UEqMqYHPf_YJ:www.shelfreliance.com/pdf/parties/Equivalents.pdf+&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESg31wlw0hRlASKNLcU2eHfm_w2SOsoxD4w51QfyjsKwqyCcI4cGoB_hjsmhm-Dvo7Vxo7mkmEm_ZJaNt6Wyzz0i3tyGVZy14NhQYWuOPFNba8jGVsSsTkruBown1XBEbAgF2MJ5&sig=AHIEtbT_Tj7jS0ZnxUQpV5d8jnpDU2qsaA. I can't wait for the next time the local stores have their blow out on potatoes as I'm going to make dried hash browns and potato flakes, and dehydrated mushrooms too! The possibilities are endless!!!

 

In addition to these, I already make my own seasoned bread crumbs and this allows me to utilize the older breads before they grow penicillin; though I apologize I don't remember where the original recipe came from. It was one of those times I didn't have printer paper so I wrote it down and it was before I got into Pintrest. 





4 oz of bread (1/2 cup of bread crumbs) *easy to chop in food processor*

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp dried parsley

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp dried basil

1/4 tsp dried thyme

1/4 tsp dried rosemary

 

When my bread starts getting stale, I place it in the top oven (I have a double oven) on the slotted pan and leave it there at least 24 hours to dry. I find it dries easier as I use my oven or stove. Then I place the dried bread slices in storage bags until I have enough set aside to make enough bread crumbs. We use a lot of seasoned bread crumbs in recipes or as toppings for casseroles.

 

Here is my favorite Taco Seasoning dry mix: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/taco-seasoning-i/detail.aspx. I recommend, if you are like me, use a touch less red pepper flakes if you want something comparable to Old El Paso. Use the full amount if you like your taco seasoning as true to Mexican tacos with a spice kick.

 

I also got over my initial fear of my new Pressure cooker/canner finally and jumped head in. I think the dang instructions really made it seem so difficult and fed my fear of it. Not to mention my attention deficit disorder kicks in with instructions and I find it REALLY difficult to focus on reading the extensive manual; but I pressed on. I made Ham stock, Hot Salsa and pasta sauce and found the canner to actually be easy. In the manual I read it was to be canned at 11 lbs of pressure so I was worried for it to go to high beyond it not realizing it's ok. When the instructions tell you leave a 1" to 1/2 " headspace, it is especially true with anything liquid, such as my ham stock or a soup. With the pressure canner the liquid squeezed out of the lids a bit as the heat caused the stock to bubble up in the cans.

This is only the cans I have not gotten into my stock pile as of yet. ;)

 

Next I plan to tackle Hush Puppy mix, Almost Hamburger Helper mixes, Italian Herb and dried tomato risotto mix, Bacon dip dry mix (wondering if it is like Tastefully Simple mix).



Well, I haven't been here in a while... life happens.

 

Necessity is always the mother of all inventions, when you don't have everything you need for a recipe you want to try.

 

Maybe this is where the original term "pot luck" came from? Just not having everything for said recipe so you just toss in what ever you DO have and hope it turns out. This one did! Bit of a problem though; I didn't really measure everything so it has to be to another person's own taste; especially since we love seasonings (mostly garlic). I'm happy to share this as it is our new love.

 

Chicken mushroom casserole

 

3 large chicken breasts trimmed and sliced in half and cut in 2

2 TBS EEVO

4 TBS margarine

½ c. flour

1 tsp. seasoned salt

½ tsp. pepper

1 ½ c. warm water

¾ tsp. L.B. Jamison’s Ham flavored soup base

½ c. heavy cream

1 can of cream of chicken

8 oz. pkg fresh mushrooms, sliced

Parmesan cheese maybe ½ cup

Approx. 3 oz. Swiss cheese, cubed small

1 tsp. (approx.) garlic salt

½ tsp. (approx.) garlic powder

Pinch salt

Thyme

 

Preheat oven to 350

Heat EEVO in med heated pan; mix flour, season salt and pepper in a dish and dredge each chicken piece well in flour. Cook till lightly browned and remove.

Deglaze pan with hot water and ham base mix (dissolved in water prior), scraping bits from pan.

Meanwhile, heat margarine in separate pan and add mushrooms to sauté; Season with garlic powder and pinch of salt.

Add soup to deglazed pan and allow to mix in before you add heavy cream, parmesan cheese, garlic salt, Thyme and Swiss cheese. Allow all cheese to mix and melt.

Transfer chicken to a high sided casserole dish; add the cheese mixture to chicken. Add the cooked seasoned mushrooms- careful not to add the remaining juice/butter from the mushrooms. Top with extra shakes of parmesan cheese and bake till golden brown and sauce has thickened; Should not take long as chicken is thin, sliced and partially cooked.

*Would be good with egg noodles or rice; Can add a veggie to recipe like spinach, but it must be well drained.